Lots happening on the marriage equality front in the UK today. Pink News reports that the head of the Surrey Council (in southern England) is blasting the marriage equality bill her own party is pushing:

The Conservative chair of Surrey County Council says she is “fundamentally opposed” to equal marriage and that it will have “negative consequences for “families and children” – she also claims “there are lots of gays in the media” and “if anybody speaks out, you’re rubbished.”

She goes on to play the polygamy card:

The councillor continued. “Whether there are huge dangers in going along this route for children and for families, and frankly for marriage itself, you could go on to have more than one partner, you could marry and decide you’re gay after all and change, and people do that [already] but is [equal marriage] encouraging it?”

In related news, Pink News also reports that 86 M’s in parliament voted for an amendment that would extend religious protections to conscientious objectors:

The MP explained his bill would amend the Equality Act 2010 to include a person’s “conscientious beliefs” about the definition of marriage. Mr Leigh’s bill will proceed to second reading but it is unlikely to become law due to lack of parliamentary time. He told the Commons: “They are entitled to protection not just in their churches, they are entitled to protection in the workplace, on Facebook, a home and when they are teaching in the classroom.

It’s considered unlikely that the amendment will ultimately attract enough support to become part of the law.

And the horse trading has begin. Prime Minister David Cameron is under pressure to give a tax break to couples in marriages and civil partnerships to win support for marriage equality, Gay Star News reports:

Members of parliament are pressing the cabinet to make an announcement in March to implement the coalition government’s promise to reward married couples and civil partnerships in the tax system. Speaking to The Times, Cabinet sources said the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne should ‘act sooner rather than later’ and the Budget would be a ‘good time to placate an awful lot of people’.